Chinese firm wins Turkey's missile defense system tender

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Chinese defense firm CPMIEC has won a Turkish tender to co-produce a long-range air and missile defense system, a statement from the Turkish defense minister said on Thursday.

Four missile systems - American Patriot, Russian S-400, French-Italian Eurosam Samp-T and the winner Chinese FD-2000 - were in the running for the Turkish project, worth approximately $4 billion.

Turkey now has no such long-range missile defense system.

Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz’s statement also said a contract to produce six corvette ships by Koc Holding, Turkey’s biggest conglomerate, had been canceled.

A contract to build two ships would be awarded to the Turkish naval shipyard. The construction of four remaining ships will be put out to tender later, it said.

Koc Holding was recently accused of backing the 1997 military overthrow of its first Islamist-led government, sending their shares tumbling on fears of a deepening vendetta against the country’s secular business elite.

The government launched a probe into the taxes of Koc energy firms in July, weeks after criticizing one of the family’s hotels for sheltering protesters during anti-government unrest that rocked several cities over the summer.